Remembering Heraclitus

Remembering Heraclitus

Fragments of Heraclitus:

“To be wise is one thing: to know the thought that directs all things through all things.”
“We should not act like the children of our parents.”

This bright, deep, meditative jewel-like study brings Heraclitus to life in a new way, and shows him to be one of the principal sources of Western mystical thinking. From Geldard’s point of view, the study of Heraclitus is not just an academic matter but, on the contrary, presents us with very real existential and phenomenological challenges.

The book includes new translations of all the essential fragments. Geldard, through his exploration of Heraclitus, shows us,

“The more that human beings openly and humbly seek higher knowledge, the more they develop the power to perceive it, until finally they penetrate to the hidden universal order. The result of this penetration is knowledge of the Logos, that ‘which directs all things through all things.’ The acquisition of this knowledge is not an event; it is a stance in the world. It is Being in its fullness.”

C O N T E N T S:

Prefatory Note on Remembering
Introduction

Apophasis
Logos
Physis
Nomos
Ethos
Telos
Epilogue

Appendix:
The Problem of the Text
The Essential Fragments
Glossary of Greek Terms

Suggested Reading

About the Author

Richard Geldard is a graduate of Bowdoin College, The Bread Loaf School of English at Middlebury College, and Stanford University, where he earned his doctorate in Dramatic Literature and Classics. He has also studied at St. John’s College, Oxford. Before turning to writing, he was an educator, teaching English and philosophy at secondary, undergraduate and graduate levels. He also taught Greek Philosophy and The Science of Mind at Yeshiva College in New York, where he also supervised the General Studies program at the university’s boys’ and girls’ high schools. His most recent appointment was at the Pacifica Graduate Institute in Carpenteria, California, where he taught the Greek Mystery Religions. Dr. Geldard is also on the Board of Directors of the Ralph Waldo Emerson Institute and is the Academic Advisor to the Institute’s web site, RWE.org, the Internet’s leading site devoted to the life and works of Ralph Waldo Emerson. He is a frequent lecturer and the author of seven books, including studies of Ralph Waldo Emerson and Greek philosophy and culture. Mr. Geldard is presently a full-time writer and lecturer living in New York City and the Hudson Valley. He is married to the artist and writer Astrid Fitzgerald.